Author's Notes: I don't mean to offend anyone, but a lot of the reviews I receive, I find quite funny. Either they are very similar to one another, or I already expected to hear something like it. Anyway, I know that a couple people (maybe more) want Gary to end up with Marin. I'll think about it, but I'm not making any promises. Yet, a few reviews that I've gotten really have been amusing to me in of themselves. Anyway, I feel urged on to complete this fic with all the reviews that I've received. Now, as I stated at the end of the last chapter in the Author's Notes, there is a two-year lapse from when Gary begins helping out at the pokemon orphanage. I am only noting this for those who didn't notice it at the end of last chapter. If you don't notice this either, I have only pity for you. Anyway, here's chapter 15!

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Ash was surprised to hear that Gary called. He hadn't called since he took the pokedex to Ash's daughter. Now why was he calling? Ash wondered. What has he been up to? Why did he use the errand as an excuse to get that Articuno egg? During the time Gary had been gone, Misty had gotten annoyed with Ash assuming that Gary was up to something, to the point where she had accused Ash of being sore on wanting that egg for himself. Ash declared that it wasn't true, but Misty didn't believe him. Ash had stopped talking with Misty about that subject since she had accused him of wanting that egg a few times. Ash didn't deny that he had wanted that egg, but he knew that he wasn't sore that Gary got it instead.

Ash picked the phone up where Misty had set it down. "Hi, Gary?" Ash greeted.

"Hey Ash! How have you been?" Gary asked.

"I've been fine. What have you been up to?" Ash inquired, calmly, although he was far from calm inside.

"I've been doing a little light training," Gary replied.

"Uh-huh. Well, where are you?" Ash asked.

"Right now I'm in Cherrygrove city. I got here a little while ago," Gary replied, quickly adding how long he had been there, before Ash could ask that. Although Ash couldn't make an accusation on that, Ash used it to further his cause on Gary being up to something.

"How long do you plan on being there?" Ash asked.

"Not too much longer. I've made plans to leave soon," Gary said, after a moment.

"Why haven't you called during the time you were gone?" Ash finally asked.

"I just didn't feel like it. Oh! You know, your daughter is starting on her journey soon," Gary said, causing Ash to jump.

"Who are you talking about," Ash asked, noticing a little girl with black hair and bright emerald eyes in the background.

"Misty Crystal," Gary said. Ash was about to protest, but Gary continued. "I'm sure that you still haven't figured out all of you lost memories, but I know that you were married to someone else during those nine years you were missing."

"It wasn't nine years I was married while I was gone, it was seven and a half!" Ash cried. "Anyway, how did you find out!?"

"I have my ways," Gary answered, vaguely.

Ash sighed. He knew that he wasn't going to get any more information out of Gary about that subject. Ash then got an idea. "How many times have you been in Cherrygrove city since you left on that errand?"

"It doesn't matter," Gary replied, obviously blowing Ash's question off. Although, that didn't really give Ash much more information than what he already knew, Ash was certain that Gary was getting to know who Ash was while he was missing. He must not have wanted any of us to know. Ash thought.

"Well, I gotta go," Gary said. "Smell ya later!"

Ash then hung up at the same time that Gary did. Ash knew that Gary was probably going to go with his daughter on her journey, but Ash didn't have anything to prove it and so decided to not talk with Misty about it, because he didn't want the subject of who wanted the egg. He was really tired of being accused of being upset that Gary got the egg.

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Gary sighed after he hung up. Ash probably knows what I'm up to, Gary thought to himself. Unbeknownst to him, but knownst to us, Misty had listened in on the entire conversation, and Gary thought that he heard something moving away. Gary gave the sound no mind as he thought that it was just another pokemon. Gary went up to his room, which had become his own personal freezer ever since his Articuno hatched out of its egg.

Gary could still remember when he rushed into his room in a panic when he noticed the hallway had frozen stiff. He found his Articuno hatched from the egg, hopping around the desk that Gary had left it on. As typical with all birds, Articuno thought of Gary as its mother when it saw him. Gary named it Frost. It had grown rapidly, until it was it's adult height in a matter of months. Yet, it still relied on Gary just as Gary relied on it.

Gary began to return to the orphanage. He had called from the Pokemon center in Cherrygrove city, hoping that it would keep Ash from guessing where he had been all the time that he hadn't called. Unfortunately, Gary knew that Ash knew where he had been. That was the main reason why he didn't call. He didn't want anyone to have known about it. He could only hope that no one would believe Ash of where he had been.

As Gary makes his way to the orphanage, he thinks of how much has changed here since he arrived. The pokemon population around here seemed to be growing, yet Gary was certain that it would shrink again as soon as the predators began to repopulate and then the non-predator population would go down. When there were fewer non-predators, the predator's population would go down as well, then the cycle would start all over again. Another change was that there seemed to be fewer trainers around yet, Gary assumed that also was part of the pokemon population increase. Where there were lots of pokemon, trainers seemed to flood the area until not too many were there.

Misty had been gone getting her trainer's license and was due back soon, and Gary was wondering when they would be moving. Gary was already feeling wanderlust, probably because he wasn't too familiar with this area and wanted to leave, and eventually return home, where he wouldn't feel the wanderlust, unless Ash disappears again.

Gary didn't plan on telling Marin about his call to Ash as she would want to know if Ash had remembered anything and Gary didn't want to bother with that. He had the wanderlust for a few weeks and it kept on steadily getting stronger. He didn't want to have to wait for any longer than he had to. He had no clue when Misty would be back, but when she was back, he wanted to leave as quickly as he could. He had already gotten enough supplies to last them for a while. Gary was also surprised with Misty's pokemon as they seemed to be well trained, but most of all, they were ready to evolve as her Ponyta had already evolved into a Rapidash.

Gary often had difficult falling asleep due to his wanderlust, just as he had difficulty concentrating on the work he was given. He had to watch the pokemon get their exercise outside of the pens. Although Gary had his own pokemon to help him, he needed to have his wits about them otherwise, some could get in trouble. Out of all his pokemon, his Arcanine was the one that was most friendly to his Articuno.

Gary sighed as he neared the orphanage. He would miss hearing the stories about Ash that Ash would not want to know himself, let alone anyone else. Gary's favorite was the fact that he had a pokemon friend that was a Tentacool. Apparently, Ash's name for the Tentacool was Cooly. Another piece was that Ash had bought a bike for his daughter. Gary wondered what Misty would think about that, as Gary remembered hearing that Ash had destroyed Misty's bike when they first met. Gary laughed really hard when he heard that. When Marin asked him why he was laughing so hard, Gary told her about that incident. Another piece was how Ash defended his daughter's dislike for Carrots. Yet, Marin had yet to get Ash to eat some peppers, yet the hotter ones he ate without problem, other than needing a bite of bread or glass of milk afterwards. Gary then moved out to the orphanage.

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Misty was waiting for Gary when he stepped out of the surrounding forest. Although she was certain that he hadn't seen her when she listened in on him, she didn't want to enlighten him either. She was still pondering over what the conversation had been about. Why had Gary acted like he didn't want to admit that he had been here for the past two years? Misty wondered. Also, why did Ash seem to have a daughter here? If he was married to Misty Ketchum, why did he have a daughter here, and who was she? Not only that, but Misty couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't seen any other girl who was also preparing for her pokemon journey. Misty had decided to think about it later, so that she wouldn't give anything away.

After a tearful good-bye, Misty and Gary left the pokemon orphanage to start her journey. At the end of the first day, Misty and Gary shared a quiet dinner and Misty fell asleep much earlier than Gary. Gary was also up before her, preparing breakfast. Misty wanted to try to cook and screwed up their lunch. After that, Gary told her that he would be doing the cooking. Misty heartily agreed with him, a little down by the fact that she couldn't cook too well over an open flame. Misty then was determined to learn how to cook, even if it meant that she would use some of her winnings to pay for food that would end up ruined before it could be eaten.

When they arrived at Violet city, Misty went straight for the gym, but Gary made certain that she went to the pokemon center first. Misty complained and Gary then rebuked and lectured her on why she needed to go to the pokemon center first. She didn't know how strong the gym leader would be and if she wasn't at full strength, she might just fail, only because she didn't take time to make certain that she was as strong as she was going to be. Misty didn't want to be lectured on this or like this again, so decided to let Gary have his way. She had thought that it would be nice to have a traveling companion, but didn't realize that it would be so annoying. Oh well, Misty thought to herself, everything comes at a price and this must be it.

When Misty did battle the gym leader, Falkner, she realized how much she really needed all her strength for the battle. Although her pokemon were strong, they were just barely enough to beat Falkner. Misty had gotten her first badge. Misty then decided to listen more closely to what Gary had to say. Misty was also surprised to learn that Gary seemed to know Falkner, although that didn't strike her as odd, because he would have needed to have met him one time or another as he was once a trainer.

Though, they stayed a couple of days at Violet city, mainly because Falkner wanted to take a real good look at Gary's Articuno. Misty then explored the city a little while Gary was with Falkner and his Articuno. Misty tried a little cooking, but failed miserably each time. She decided to get a cookbook the next chance she got. Yet, she would need to think up of an excuse to why she should buy it, if Gary was around when she got it.

Misty continued on to Azalea town after that, knowing that this next badge would be much easier than this badge only because she had three fire types in her party. Gary had once told her that it would make battles a little more challenging, but Misty didn't care. She liked the fire types and didn't want any other pokemon in those slots. Misty didn't care much about catching wild pokemon, she was more interested in battles with other trainers. She wanted to battle all that she could to get her own pokemon more experienced. She also knew that as long as they battled, they would get the experience, although she didn't think that it was quite as much, when they battled and fainted. She figured that because as long as they did what they could, then they would still know what they could do better. Yet, she still didn't like the idea of her pokemon fainting and often demanded that they rest for the night, just so that he pokemon would be able to get enough rest to replenish their strength each day.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Misty was irritated. She knew that she needed to look after her and Ash's son, but while she was pregnant again, it was becoming a very big hassle. It wasn't only that, but with their son, Ashe, being about two years old, he was quite a handful. Ash seemed to only encourage Ashe, no matter what Misty said to Ash. It seemed like Ash had gone back to being the carefree boy she first met. Even Pikachu seemed to be annoyed with how Ash was acting. Yet, Pikachu did what he could to not harm Ashe, just because Pikachu knew that he could harm Ashe more than he would intend. Ash had become almost immune to Pikachu's shocks, but Pikachu was certain that Ashe wasn't immune. Ever since Ash had become this way, Misty and Pikachu began to form a very close friendship.

Pikachu had asked Misty if she expected Ash to replace her bike and Misty replied that she felt that Ash had already done that. Pikachu had inquired why she felt that way and then Misty looked around to see if Ash was nearby, and finding him nowhere in sight, she told Pikachu that she had secretly long thought of Togepi as the replacement. Although Togepi had thought she was her mother, Misty had felt that if Ash really wanted Togepi, he could have had her, as he had won the match that was supposed to have determined who got to keep Togepi. Yet, Misty didn't want Ash to know, so that she could keep on teasing him about it. Pikachu laughed at that. When Ash returned that day, Pikachu asked how the replacement was and laughed when Ash became confused at that remark. Misty had to agree, that it was funny.

All Misty knew was that, when Ash wasn't acting like he was a kid, he was often lost in thought. During those times, Misty would lean her head on his shoulder. She often tested to see if he was still with her when they were watching t.v. by occasionally trying to change the channel to something that he doesn't like. He often then would realize the change after about five minuets and then demand to have the channel changed back to what it originally had been. Although Misty couldn't be certain, she felt that she was carrying a girl this time. She didn't expect to be right, but she just felt that way.

Even with Ash occasionally being immature, and Ashe being a handful, Misty was content with her life. She even had gotten a job at the local Pokecenter that was recently added to the town, and was doing well there. Misty didn't want anything to change, but she knew that everything would flip upside down when Ash's daughter, Misty, challenged Ash for the title of Pokemon Master, as she was certain would happen. Yet, Misty also knew that when Ash regained his memory, things would be changed as well. He seemed to be slowly regaining it, but it seemed to be coming slower and slower. Misty didn't want that trickle to stop and wondered what would happen if it did. She knew that no one could know the exact future. Although possibilities were seen, the course that the future would take couldn't be seen.

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Author's Notes: Now, what do people think of this? For those who noted that they don't flame, I know that they don't and most likely won't flame, but I'm sure that there will come a time where some idiot will want to flame this fic and possibly more of my fics. I'm just preparing for the inevitable. However, I do appreciated the support that I'm getting for this fic. Now, Sir.C I did not see that. Anyway, the votes are 9 ½ to 1 ½. I'm quite surprised to see such a gap, but then again I'm not surprised, seeing how loud the voice for those who want Ash with Misty has been. Don't worry about that. I will get to that in the first ending most likely. Anyway, if you don't want to leave a review where everyone can read it, then email me. My email address is on my author's page. Read the bio if you're interested too. Anyway, I'll be putting out two chapters a week for this fic and now I'll be working on a Mother's day fic. I hope to get it done by Mother's day so I can have it out before Sunday. Anyway, please look forward to chapter 16!